• News

• All

May 11, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Jade Wilson

The Mountain Goats are releasing a new album, Dark in Here, on June 25 via Merge. Now they have shared a new song from it, “The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums.” It features backing vocals from Susan Marshall and Reba Russell (Rev. Al Green, Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2). Listen below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

In a press release, frontman John Darnielle says that “The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums” is an autobiographical song: “While the lines, ‘In a new universe/trying to find the mask that fits me’ would take on a newly literal connotation … the song is about going to metal shows at Fender’s Ballroom in Long Beach, California, in the late ’80s, and more broadly, about seeking a sense of identity and community in strange and occasionally forbidding places.”

Previously The Mountain Goats shared a lyric video for the album’s first single, “Mobile.”

Dark in Here is the band’s third album in just over a year, following April 2020’s Songs for Pierre Chuvin (which was recorded on a boombox and featured only Darnielle) and October 2020’s Getting Into Knives. Dark in Here was recorded in the week in between recording Songs for Pierre Chuvin and Getting Into Knives, at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It’s a studio that Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Gregg Allman, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and other legends have recorded at. “Mobile” features some Muscle Shoals legends as well, with Spooner Oldham (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt) on electric piano and Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, Tammy Wynette) on lead guitar.

Getting Into Knives followed 2019’s In League With Dragons, 2017’s Goths, and 2015’s wrestling-themed Beat the Champ. The band features frontman John Darnielle, drummer Jon Wurster, bassist Peter Hughes, and multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas.

Read our interview with John Darnielle on Getting Into Knives.

The Mountain Goats Tour Dates:

Aug 06 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Aug 07 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Aug 08 Birmingham, AL – Saturn
Aug 10 Austin, TX – Mohawk
Aug 11 Austin, TX – Mohawk
Aug 12 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
Aug 13 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
Aug 15 Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf
Aug 16 Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf
Aug 19 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
Aug 21 Fort Collins, CO – Washington’s
Aug 23 Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst Theater
Aug 24 Evanston, IL – SPACE
Aug 25 Evanston, IL – SPACE
Aug 26 Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
Sep 16 Dallas, TX – Kessler Theater*
Sep 17 Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre*
Sep 24 Holyoke, MA – Gateway City Arts Center*
Sep 25 Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios*
Sep 26 Bethlehem, PA – Musikfest Cafe at the ArtsQuest*

*John Darnielle solo

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.